Elaine Tanaka, M.D.

Elaine Tanaka received her MD from the University of California, San Diego.  She is a Board Certified general surgeon who specializes in breast care and treatment of breast cancer.  She is the Founder of a nonprofit, Compassion Breast, whose mission is to provide quality, expeditious breast care to uninsured and under-resourced communities.

Her recent publications include: “Preoperative Breast MRI: Surgeons' Patient Selection Patterns and Potential Bias in Outcomes Analyses.”  She has conducted workshops on implicit bias in medicine, has participated in multiple panels, and has presented multiple lectures including “Health Disparities in San Diego” and a UC San Diego, School of Medicine Health Equity Curriculum Lecture:  “Cancer Screening.”  She teaches ETHN 142 which examines race, medicine, and the global politics of inequality. 

Research interests:  Eliminating Disparities in Health Care, Breast Cancer Knowledge and Education in Immigrant Communities, Compassionate Health Care for Marginalized Communities, Delivery of Quality and Expeditious Health Care to Uninsured and Under-Resourced Communities, Health Education for Marginalized Communities.